The Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service (previously Highland and Islands Fire Brigade) (Scottish Gaelic: Seirbheisean Smàlaidh na Gàidhealtachd 's nan Eilean) is the statutory fire and rescue service

Fire services in Scotland

Fire services in Scotland are provided by Fire and Rescue Services each under the control of a Fire and Rescue Authority or a joint fire board ....

 for northern Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, covering the council areas of Highland

Highland (council area)

Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...

, Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles, and so covering a major part of the Highlands and Islands

Highlands and Islands

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are broadly the Scottish Highlands plus Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides.The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 applied...

 area. It is the fire service covering the largest geographical area in the United Kingdom (its area is roughly equivalent in size to Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

), and has its headquarters in the city of Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

. The current Chief Fire Officer

Chief Fire Officer

A Chief Fire Officer or CFO is the highest ranking Officer in the UK Fire & Rescue Service. There are currently 59 Chief Fire Officers serving in the United Kingdom in charge of County Fire Services....

 is David Wynne.http://www.hifrs.org/opencms/opencms/FireBrigade/ExecutiveCommand/firemaster/fmdiary.html

The same area of Scotland is covered by the Northern Constabulary

Northern Constabulary

The Northern Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for Northern Scotland, covering the Highland council area along with the Western Isles, the Orkney Isles and the Shetland Isles, which comprise most of the Highlands and Islands area...

.

History

The current Fire Service stems from the Northern Area Fire Brigade, formed in 1947 after the passing of the Fire Services Act, and covered the same area the service does today, with the exception of the Western Isles. In 1975, with the reorganisation of local government, the service became the Northern Fire Brigade and gained the Western Isles as part of its catchment area. In 1983 another name change was invoked, this time to Highland and Islands Fire Brigade, to more accurately reflect the area which the Brigade served. The current name, Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service, was adopted in the summer of 2005, as a result of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. As well as the name change, for the first time in the service's history, a Gaelic motto, dìon is freagair, or "protect and respond," was sanctioned. http://www.hifrs.org/opencms/opencms/FireBrigade/servicesupport/technical/Control/News/news.html

Stations

The service currently operates 127 stations throughout the Highlands and Islands. The only wholetime station is in Inverness, which also operates a retained pump. Of the rest of the stations, 95 are retained and 31 operate as "Community Response Units." All of the service's stations are supported locally by district offices, which supervise the operations of the stations in their respective areas. These offices are located in Inverness, Aviemore

Aviemore

Aviemore is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popular for skiing and other winter sports, and for hill-walking in the Cairngorm...

, Fort William, Invergordon

Invergordon

Invergordon is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.-History:The town is well known for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. More recently it was also known for the repair of oil rigs which used to be lined up in the Cromarty Firth on which the town is situated...

, Ullapool

Ullapool

Ullapool is a small town of around 1,300 inhabitants in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest settlement for many miles around, and is a major tourist destination of Scotland. The North Atlantic Drift passes by Ullapool, bringing moderate temperatures...

, Dornoch

Dornoch

Dornoch is a town and seaside resort, and former Royal burgh in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east...

, Portree

Portree

Portree is the largest town on Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the location for the only secondary school on the Island, Portree High school. Public transport services are limited to buses....

 Thurso

Thurso

-Facilities:Offices of the Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several partner colleges which constitute the UHI Millennium Institute, and offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from...

, Stornoway

Stornoway

Stornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.The town's population is around 9,000, making it the largest settlement in the Western Isles and the third largest town in the Scottish Highlands after Inverness and Fort William...

, Benbecula

Benbecula

Benbecula is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2001 census it had a usually resident population of 1,249, with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It forms part of the area administered by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar or the Western...

, Kirkwall

Kirkwall

Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...

, and Lerwick

Lerwick

Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...

. Inverness is also the location of the main headquarters, which is situated next to the city's fire station.

Training facility

The service also has a training facility based 25 miles north of Inverness in Invergordon

Invergordon

Invergordon is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.-History:The town is well known for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. More recently it was also known for the repair of oil rigs which used to be lined up in the Cromarty Firth on which the town is situated...

, http://www.hifrs.org as well as a state of the art control centre, which again is based in the Highland capital, but on a different site from the main headquarters. http://www.hifrs.org/opencms/opencms/FireBrigade/servicesupport/technical/Control/Control.html